The Result
The New England Patriots had a bad taste in their mouth. It was as if someone had made them eat one of those science experiments you find in your fridge every once in a while and they didn’t like it one bit. They decided it was time to do something about it and they marched into Miami where as a franchise they’ve been horrible just 11 wins in 43 games and they played a very good game, and patiently pulled away from the Miami Dolphins with a 48-28 win at Dolphin Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
I don’t think it was all the fact that they got manhandled in Week 3 by the Fish but that Joey Porter had the game of his life and added insult to injury and then he continued to talk to who ever would listen and it didn’t stop until ESPN aired a piece he did with Keyshawn Johnson this morning about how he feels cheated because when he was in Pittsburgh those Steelers teams should have kicked the Patriots asses. Joey the problem ws is the the Steelers, like you, love to run your mouth and it eventually catches up to you. and it today it caught up to Joey big time as he was a none factor and then in frustration ended up with an unsportsman like penalty on the final New England drive that gave the Patriots first and goal and allowed them to add the final TD on the day.
What Bill Parcells and Company have done in such a short time in Miami is great to see, but with this loss it looks like the AFC East is becoming a two horse race between the New York Jets and the Patriots. And if Matt Cassel has anything to say about how the division ends up it could be an exciting finish as the lifelong back up became the first quarterback in Patriots history to have back-to-back 400 yard passing games. Now sit back and digest this for a second. Tom Brady, Jim Plunkett, Drew Bledsoe, Steve Grogan and all the others have never done that. But don’t think for one second that Cassel is supplanting Brady or that he will even be in a Patriots uniform next season. Brady is a Hall of Famer and only 32 years old coming off an ACL injury that is so common these days its not funny. Cassel though will be somewhere next season playing QB in the NFL as a starter. We just know it won’t be in New England.
With the win the Patriots are now 7-4 and still one game behind New York who beat Tennessee. Miami drops to 6-5 and their playoff hopes just got slimmer.
Scoring Plays
| PATRIOTS | 3 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 48 |
| DOLPHINS | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
1st Quarter
- NE – Gostkowski 30 yard FG
- MIA – Pennington 3 yard pass to Camarillo – Carpenter PAT
2nd Quarter
- NE – Cassel 8 yard run – Gostkowski PAT
- MIA – Pennington 7 yard run – Carpenter PAT
- NE – Cassel 25 yard pass to Moss – Gostkowski PAT
3rd Quarter
- MIA – Pennington 2 yard pass to Cramer – Carpenter PAT
- NE – Cassel 8 yard pass to Moss – Gostkowski PAT
- NE – Faulk 21yard run – Gostkowski PAT
4th Quarter
- MIA – Pennington 13 yard pass to Williams – Carpenter PAT
- NE – Cassel 29 yard pass to Moss – Gostkowski PAT
- NE – Gostkowski 31 yard FG
- NE – Green-Ellis 1 yard run – Gostkowski PAT
Offensive Player of the Game
New England QB Matt Cassel was 30 of 43 for 415 yards, 3 TD passes, ran for 1 TD and had 1 INT.
Defensive Player of the Game
New England Safety Brandon Meriweather had 6 tackles (4 solo) and 1 INT he returned 19 yards.
Turning Point(s) of the Game
In the third quarter with Miami driving, a penalty set them back to 3rd and 20 at the NE 47 and Seymour sacked Chad Pennington forcing a Miami punt in a 3 point game. On the ensuing drive on 2nd and 8 at the NE 15 Cassel threw to Wes Welker in the slot who took the ball for 64 yards to the MIA 21. After and incomplete pass to Moss on 1st down, Kevin Faulk ran up the middle 21 yards for a TD that was the back breaker. From then on it was a different game.
According to 
According to Nick Cafardo of the 
